FREDERICK COUNTY, Maryland, December 29. ACCORDING to a report by the Gazette, the Frederick County Public Schools is contemplating cutting swimming from its district that encompasses nine high schools in the area.
According to the report, "School system staff estimated that if schools don't have to hire swimming coaches and lifeguards and eliminate the cost of maintaining the three pools in the county, it could save up to $764,000 per year."
Additionally, a decision to cut swimming would eliminate the possibility for 419 student-athletes to represent their high schools.
Recently, USA Swimming Club Development Managing Director Pat Hogan spoke with Swimming World regarding how possible budget cuts across the country can impact pools throughout the United States.
"One of the things that we have tried to do is educate our members about the costs of running a pool, and to help them understand that the pool must be a viable economic entity or it won't be there over the long-term," Hogan told Swimming World. "In some cases, this philosophy means that clubs need to step up and cover some of the costs of operating a facility. In other cases, it means that they need to push (and/or help) the pool owner/operator to conduct additional revenue-producing programs (like swim lessons). In a few situations, this approach has resulted in helping a club create a public-private partnership where the club takes over partial operation of the facility. Our assistance can end up going a variety of directions."
Full text of Gazette article.
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December 29, 2008 Is this going to be a new strategy to push swimming aside, now descending to the HS ranks, under the guise of "budget"? I wonder how much it costs to maintain practice and playing fields for the land sports, vs the number of athletes using them... Mowing, watering, sewage (sprinkler runoff counts!), fertilizer, soil aeration, yard-lining (the chalk stuff), and let's not overlook the manpower costs. What is the per-student cost of each sport when you add up all the beans (don't forget the coaching salaries, too!).
Here we go again! Submitted by: lion_king
December 29, 2008 Time for football to go!!! Can USA Swimming produce a summary of the academic benefits of swimming over football. An article was produced by Swimming World in the 90's showing swimmers holding the highest graduation rate in college over all other sports and the general student body. Can this information be summarized and presented to school districts for the sake of prudent decision making? Submitted by: sparkycrane
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